George Foreman Biopic Trailer Shows Iconic Fight With Muhammad Ali

The upcoming biopic Big George Foreman has received its first official trailer. The film will be released by Sony Pictures and is directed by Men of Honor and Notorious director George Tillman Jr., with Khris Davis portraying the boxer. Forest Whitaker, Sonja Sohn, John Magaro, and Sullivan Jones are also slated to appear in the dramatic retelling of the formative moments in the boxer’s life in and out of the ring.

Released by Sony Pictures on February 1, the first day of Black History Month, the Big George Foreman biopic trailer shows many of the highlights of Foreman’s career, including his iconic fight with Muhammad Ali.

Foreman and Ali first fought on October 30, 1974. Referred to as “The Rumble in the Jungle,” the fight took place in Kinshasa, Zaire and featured Foreman’s knockout defeat to Ali shortly after becoming the Heavyweight Champion of the World. The trailer also shows the aftermath of his many infamous fights, including Foreman surviving a near-death experience and devoting his life to his religion before making his eventual return to the ring.

Everything We Know About Big George Foreman

The official trailer for Big George Foreman highlights the tone of the biopic and the events that it will follow. Like many boxing dramas in the past, the new George Foreman-based movie will expand well beyond the ring and the fighting. Foreman left boxing for ministry, becoming an ordained minister. He initially preached on street corners before becoming the reverend at a church in Houston, Texas, which is where Big George Foreman was actually filmed.

The trailer shows Foreman’s relationship with his family and loved ones, including Doc Broadus, the boxer’s longtime trainer who introduced him to the sport. Whitaker will play Broadus in the upcoming film after making a recent appearance in Andor and starring in his ongoing series Godfather of Harlem. The trailer teases some of the duo’s interactions throughout each of their respective careers, with Broadus being a constant presence in the boxer’s life. The movie will follow Foreman’s career highlights of winning the 1968 Olympic Gold in Mexico City and his heavyweight champion runs.

Where the film gets deeper is its apparent focus on Foreman’s personal life. The film will document how Foreman’s religious life led to financial struggles for his family and his Houston church. Those hardships pushed Foreman out of his quasi-retirement and back into the ring, where he went on to reclaim his heavyweight belt in his late 40s. He was the oldest boxer to ever hold the title at the time. The film seems to be combining many of the facets of other successful boxing franchises like Rocky and Creed by melding real-life drama with the ups and downs of professional fighting. Big George Foreman is slated for release April 28.